Out of Phase question...neck or bridge, or does it matter?

[dehughes]

Hello all,

I have a 2 conductor SD-59 neck pickup, and a 4 conductor SD-59 bridge in my SG Standard. I've wired up a switch a la the Seymour Duncan Jimmy Page diagram to get the pickups out of phase with each other. I like it, but it seems to be a "thinner" out of phase tone than others I've heard.

My question:

1) Is there a tonal/vibey difference between wiring the neck or the bridge pickups out of phase? (Obviously I've wired the bridge to be out of phase...)

2) Is there an appreciable difference between magnetically flipping/physically flipping a pickup out of phase vs. simply wiring it electrically out of phase?

Thanks.

 

[captcoolaid]

From what I understand about the whole out of phase thing is the neck is better to do it with. But that is with the mag itself and not the wire. Try flipping the mag and using the out of phase wiring to put it back in phase see if that works.

 

[Dave1968]

TBH I think your thread will be as redundant as my own further down the block. I think you've just got to go with it and hear what seems different.

I looked into JP's wiring and can see why he purposely did so. He didn't always play LPs; Teles, SG's and that one on Kashmir..(can't remember) featured too.

His LP needed modifying to tone/thin down the guitar's mic'd tone. The guitar wiring of his makes perfect sense and with pot tone opens a multitude of nuances.

It makes perfect sense to me to try it out. If it doesn't work out at least you can tick it off the list..

Be happy to hear your results!

 

[TheJrAce]

Believe your thinking of the Danelectro.

 

[SKATTERBRANE]

Whether you choose to invert the phase of the neck pickup or the bridge pickup, that does not matter. However, I have found that reverse winding one or the other pickup tends to sound better than simply flipping the magnet. I cannot explain why or how for the life of me however.

You have to remember, when you put them out of phase it has to cancel some frequencies and change the resonance characteristics of the pickups (when used together) a thinner sound is inevitable. Now if you go out of phase AND go series, you will restore much of the fullness you miss. Using 4 push-pull pots and 4 conductor wiring (the Jimmy Page 21 tone setup) will open your ears to how all these combinations can vastly affect tone.